Proof-of-Concept: Integration of Process Safety into Chemical Engineering Curriculum Core Courses - Concepts, Procedures, and Educational Material Development

Wayne State University, Detroit MI

Investigators

Abstract

Engineering - Chemical (53) The Center for Chemical Process (CCPS) of American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) has established an industrial need to help Chemical Engineering Departments in the nation add an element of safety to the core courses in their curriculum. In addition our team has reviewed the accident history of the chemical process industry and has found that the number of major accidents continues to rise every year. The sad consequences for our society are deaths, injuries, and environmental damage. Unfortunately only a fraction of our practicing engineers have the appropriate safety culture and exposure to key safety concepts to impact this negative performance. To overcome these problems we have identified key ideas and effective pedagogical techniques to help professors teach a number of these. Our effort has been to overcome this lack of safety training in core course covering chemical processing. The courses we will address are Mass and Energy Balances, Kinetics, and Plant Design and Economics. We have created two one half hour lectures as well as exercises in a modular format for each course using different teaching methodologies. We have assessed the effectiveness of these materials and our approach and have made numerous changes. To help with dissemination of our course materials and modules we are working cooperatively with member of the Center for Chemical Process (CCPS) of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). We are also working with our publisher SACHE to present our materials in their newsletters, web site, and through their workshops.